So, apparently, IKEA has arrived in Brooklyn. I don't know about you, but I'm excited. Who wouldn't be excited? It's IKEA and it's HERE! I seriously have childhood memories of traveling to a distant Ikea store (40 minutes is a long drive when you're a kid) and looking forward to it. A seven year old being excited about a trip to Ikea - and I don't even think we usually bought anything! My family was weird.

But no doubt it was this kind of excitement that Ikea was hoping for with the grand opening of its Brooklyn store last week. Overall Ikea had some absolutely brilliant ideas for building some buzz about the new location. One particular advertising technique, however, just isn't sitting quite well with me. Rather, I can see the merits - I can see the creativity and definite "buzz"-inspiring qualities... but something about it just doesn't feel right... or maybe I should say smell?

For at least one week leading up to Ikea's grand opening in Brooklyn, local Dumbo's Front Street Pizza delivered its pies in special Ikea-made and -assembled pizza boxes inscribed with a message. What this message basically stated (in more words) was that ordering furniture from Ikea was as convenient as ordering a pizza. My favorite part is the ending imagery: "You could get a dining table delivered and then get pizza delivered to eat on it. That's living." Oh, Ikea! You know exactly how to get me, with your clean, finished edges and convenient organizational designs! What better sign off than, "that's living?" The message is clear: Ikea living is ideal living.

So why, after two days of thinking about this odd, but incredibly original aspect of Ikea's advertising campaign, am I still decidedly bothered by it? Because ordering Ikea furniture is nothing like ordering a pizza. In fact, I wonder how many Dumbo's customers freaked out for a moment upon delivery of this Ikea pizza, fearing for a split second that perhaps their dinner had come unassembled. If the box had contained a Boboli pizza crust, jar of tomato sauce, and a package of shredded mozarella, that would be more like ordering from Ikea. It's just plain misleading to paint such a lovely image of my dining room table delivery followed by a delivery of a pizza to eat off it, because unless that table delivery now includes a personal assembly assistant, there's a decent chance that table won't be ready by tonight. What I'm trying to say, Ikea, is that I love you for what you are: a pristine sanctuary of organized, perfectly designed interiors - a feng shui heaven! But we all know heaven isn't easy to achieve; we're okay with the fact that we have to work for it! Don't try to advertise yourself as something that you're not. Ikea is not a pizza. Ikea is life imitating art. Ikea is living. Just stick to your strengths: affordability and style. I mean, just think of how many pizzas I could buy with the money I'll save from shopping Ikea!